Tsumi to Batsu
by Urau
Summary: Kill the family. Leave the village. Wait to die. That had been the plan. But when that fail after he was 'kidnapped' by some girl, and having to survive his emotional turmoil of grief, even Uchiha Itachi is starting to believe the universe has it in for him. Itachi-centric -ItachixOC- No Mary-Sue so don't worry!
1. Chapter 1

**A / N :  
**

Um, hellos~! xD This is going to be my first fanfiction of Itachi - a hard character to keep IC. Hopefully, I kept all the characters in character, or at least not make them _too_ OOC. I tried my best, really! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this isn't horrible.

Er... This story will be a **ItachixOC** fanfiction, because I totally love Itachi x3 I love most, if not all, characters of Naruto, actually... But that's not the point xD Even though it's not a Canon x Canon story, I hope that people will give this ItachixOC story a chance. But, I'll stop talking. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous and that's kinda what I'm doing but I don't really know if I can stop. Okay, er... I'll just shut up and let you read the chapter -smiles sheepishly-

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**.1.**

He was numb. The branches and twigs that scrapped his bare skin barely felt anything. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was curl up under a rock somewhere and die. But his little brother needed him, he couldn't die. Just a few more years, he tells himself, and it will all be over.

He stumbled out of the forest, dazed only squeeze his eyes shut when sand slapped him on the face. He was numb with pain and the stinging in his eyes wasn't helping. Pinwheel spinning in his eyes, he tried to judge the distance from his current spot to his current destination.

He was exhausted. He needed to rest. Just once, he'll indulge himself a bed to sleep in. Never mind the fact that someone might recognize him since he was one of the most famous missing-nin now. And Sunagakure was an ally of Konohagakure. He hoped his genjutsu would hold just long enough for him to recuperate before he was ready to leave again.

Just a few more steps, the light from the village was already illuminating the night sky.

Just a few more steps...

...and Uchiha Itachi collapsed onto the sand, thoroughly exhausted both physically and mentally.

-0-

Itachi groaned softly and shifted slightly, his body aching in protest of the movement. But he didn't care. He was beyond caring but to live so his little brother would become stronger, run after him and in the end kill him, returning to their home village as a hero for killing the man with so many sins.

"He's waking up..."

Itachi cursed himself on the inside for forgetting—for a moment in his time of immense grief and anguish—to do the ninja thing: he should've pretended to be asleep to gather information. But he consoled himself when the chakra signatures he felt was only a few and all were of civilian levels.

All but one with the chakra level of a genin.

A ninja? Then he was done for unless he kill the person. Bile rose in his throat at the thought of killing anymore people but he force it down since a ninja musn't show any emotion; _remember your little brother, Itachi_, the Uchiha reminded himself.

Trying to continue the asleep charade was pointless; and with that thought in mind, Itachi opened his eyes, expecting for the blinding artificial light to blind him momentarily. A sliver of the light passed but it didn't hit Itachi's eyes for which he was slightly grateful for.

Blank amethyst eyes met his black smoke orbs.

Long light-colored lashes framed those odd colored blank eyes. Pastel-colored curls framed the girl's tan face; silver earrings dangling from her ears. She seemed to studying but Itachi didn't think she can see him at all since her blank eyes indicated blindness—unless, of course she turned out to be a bastard child of a Hyuuga.

The Uchiha dismissed the thought since his superior eyes detected the gazeless curiosity.

He stared blankly at her and she stared back for what seemed to be an eternity before she pulled back with a sigh. "Not very talkative are you," she said in a musing way, sounding amused—Itachi didn't sense anything funny—as it was belied in her voice. "I see—or maybe not, since I can't see at all. So forgive me if I touch you out of the blue; sense is my only way to recognize things now."

Itachi merely nodded before realizing that she wouldn't be able to see the action. Reluctantly, he said, "Yes," in monotone, hoping that the girl will leave him alone though he was grateful for her—or whoever it was—that had saved him from dying in the dessert.

She didn't. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" the Uchiha replied plainly.

"..." Itachi watched her as she remained silent, as if contemplating something. "Amaterasu."

"Just that?"

"You're not telling me your name," Amaterasu said. "Why should I give you my full name?"

_And I don't even know whether or not is that your real name_, Itachi thought but didn't voice it. He stared up at the ceiling listlessly, eyes having accustomed to the light didn't hurt him anymore. He was thankful; he doubted he could take any more pain with the illness eating away at his body and the anguish of having slaughter the Uchiha Clan—_his_ clan, _his _**family.****  
**

That thought was almost enough for him to throw up but he forced it back. He can withheld emotion from his brother, he can do this: he wouldn't break down in front of a stranger.

When a finger made it's way to trace his cheek, his gaze snapped back to the pink-haired girl. She poked his cheek repeatedly, which irritated the Uchiha so he batted her hand away.

"Don't touch me," he nearly growled had he not wanted to be polite.

"I told you why I would touch you out of the blue just now," Amaterasu responded slowly. "Didn't I?"

"Why did you do that?" the Uchiha questioned irritably.

"You're not that much older than me," the girl replied. "is what I'd deduced. You still have baby fat on your cheeks."

"And you found it fitting to keep poking me?"

"I was just trying to imagine your face," Amaterasu said in a sweet tone as she edged her way to the door. "Dare-mo-san." The last part was delivered in a sing-song and it grated on the Uchiha's nerves, along with the fact why he couldn't place her face which was familiar. Not in the I-know-you sense of way, but a face he'd seen almost everyday yet wasn't someone he personally knew or had met.

He threw her a glare—an Uchiha one.

But the pastel-haired girl merely laughed. "I can't see whatever you're doing now," she said. "but I guess you're glaring at me."

"Where am I?" he demanded tersely, heavily berating himself for asking now instead of earlier.

"In Suna," Itachi scowled slightly, almost imperceptibly when Amaterasu rolled her eyes at him. "I thought you'd know that with the humidity in the air now."

The Uchiha, due to his pride, wouldn't admit that he never noticed that. Was he really that...what was that word again? And oh, the girl's talking again.

"You're not from here from what I can feel," she was saying. "your skin's too smooth and unblemished and if it wasn't for your voice, I'd thought you're a girl with that immaculate skin."

Itachi toss her a mild glare she couldn't see for that girl comment—he'd received that comment from many of his relatives back when he was younger and hadn't hit puberty. "Your skin's smooth too," he said barely above a sneer. "where are you from?"

"Konohagakure," was the prompt response. "Are you from there too?"

"No," the Uchiha lied glibly.

"Oh," Amaterasu sounds mildly disappointed. And Itachi wondered why; what was so important from being from Konoha? Why did it mattered to her for her to be so disappointed? "That's too bad." And what did she meant by that?

"Rest well."

Itachi didn't even realize how tiring the conversation with the girl was until he felt his vision become fuzzy at the edges. The last thing he saw was the girl's blank eyes filled with muted amusement.

He didn't like that look. He totally didn't trust it either.

If he'd known what kind of trouble she'd bring him into, he'd have run like the wind away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

**.2.**

"You're leaving already?"

Itachi didn't turn to face the speaker, neither did he made any motion to acknowledge her. he merely strapped his ANBU vest on—he wasn't quite ready to part with it yet—and threw on his black cloak, successfully concealing the white vest underneath it. He settled down on the bed and bend down, his bangs falling to frame his face, to wear his sandals properly.

"Don't ignore me," the pink-haired menace whined childishly—Itachi didn't know why her, a girl a few years older than him, would be whining—as she closed some of their distance. "My parents want to meet you."

Itachi finally looked up at Amaterasu, heaving a sigh. "I'm in a hurry," he stated plainly. "I can't linger here anymore. People are after me."

"Why?" the girl persisted curiously. Itachi apparently miscalculated; he'd thought telling her that would intimidate her so she'd leave him alone. Apparently not. Damn. Maybe he should just run like the wind?

"It's none of your business," the Uchiha responded coolly.

"Where're you going?"

"I'm not obligated to answer that."

The girl scowled at him. "At the very least," she sneered. "grace my parents with your holy presence, Dare-mo-san."

It was Itachi's turn to scowl at the name but he ignored her and brush past her. He hoped to his lucky stars that he wouldn't run into the girl's parents and so he didn't need to face them. Luck was not on his side.

"Ah—you're awake," a feminine, alto pitched voice came from downstairs. "Are you sure you should be up and about just yet? You were practically half-dead when we found you."

Itachi looked down to see a woman in her mid-twenties or early-thirties. Her pale skin indicated that she wasn't from a country with a scorching climate as hot as the Wind Country. Her eyes and hair which was pulled into a low ponytail in a way that reminded Itachi of Shisui, were the same shade as Amaterasu's, which probably meant they were related somehow.

"Sisters?" the Uchiha unconsciously voiced that thought.

The stranger laughed a melodic laugh. "My, my, you flatter me," she giggled. "I'm Amaterasu's mother and who might you be, dear?"

Mother? Itachi wasn't overly surprise since his mother looked relatively young for her age too. "I see..." he murmured tonelessly. The woman before him was petite and definitely a civilian though her chakra pathways were formed more perfectly than a civilian-born—she must've been descended from a ninja family.

He nodded his head politely at her. "Thank you for helping me. I must be on my way now."

"Wait!" Amaterasu protested. "You haven't even met my father yet!"

"Why should I meet him?" the Uchiha demanded, slightly baffled though he didn't show it.

The mother and daughter shared a glance which made the Uchiha compelled to run; his common sense and instinct told him so unless he wanted trouble.

But neither female gave him the chance, Amaterasu grabbed his arm which made him severely uncomfortable—he didn't show it much but he loathed human-contact with the exception of a few—and dragged him down the stairs, made a sharp turn to the left and ended up in the dining room.

A man with spiky silver-white hair was there, reclining in his seat reading a newspaper. Already Itachi could see the headlines screaming: CRAZY UCHIHA BOY SLAUGHTERS HIS WHOLE CLAN. Below the tittle, the article was written with angry, angry words. Itachi averted his gaze, stricken to recall he himself had done the deed, and instead, chose to study Amaterasu's father.

Odd crimson markings adorned the man's tan skin; Itachi tensed when he recognized them as Fuinjūtsu. His gaze shifted subtly to Amaterasu and her mother, his Sharingan registering the seals he couldn't copy on their being. From his limited knowledge of Fuinjūtsu, he surmised that they're used for chakra suppressing—he remembered seeing them on the prisoners he subdued; the question was why would they subdue their own chakra?

His eyes were a briliant mahogany, twinkling with kindness and warmth but there was that cunning-ness and mischievousness.

"Sharingan... how interesting. And I though that all the Uchihas were dead save for one little boy."

Oh no. The Uchiha took a step back from the family of three. Amaterasu's mother studied him curiously and Itachi finally noticed the blankness and the murky color of her right eye—the woman was blind, and Itachi doubted from the small scar on her right eye that she was born that way.

Amaterasu closed the distance between him and her with just a few steps. "See what I told you? I knew he'd be of use to us!"

"How our cousin clan has fallen," the silver-haired man sighed dramatically. "to be slaughtered by a mere boy who collapsed from dehydration..."

"Cousin clan?" Despite his circumstances, Itachi dared to voice the question, ignoring the man's earlier statement.

The mother looked at him curiously. "Didn't you know that the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan were cousin clans? Both descendants of the Sage?"

"And they fought for so long just because two brothers couldn't get along," the father snorted. "Talk about stupid—look at the lives cost. If it wasn't for Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, we'll still be slitting one another's throat instead of extending hospitality to each other."

Senju Hashirama's name rang in Itachi's ears. No wonder Amaterasu had looked so familiar, she looked like her ancestor the Shodaime—and so did her father; her mother didn't look like any ancient Senjus but she looked like a part of some civilian family also with pink hair. The Uchiha wanted to slap himself for being so blind.

_Senju_ Amaterasu smiled at him, though her smile was anything but nice. Her earlier statement of how he'd be of use to the family rang in his head. Were they going to be handing him back to his village?

Adrenaline pumping in his veins, Itachi summoned his chakra...and found that he could not. Mild discomfort gripped him and he looked down to see his skin glowing with the lines drawn on them. How had he not noticed them earlier?

"You're strong," Amaterasu commented wryly. "I'll give you that."

"Unhand me," the Uchiha spat.

The Senju hummed, "N-o."

"Why?"

"You want to know why?" the Senju echoed, laughing. "Sure. I need to go somewhere but I have offended quite a lot of people you see. I need someone to protect me on the way to Amegakure."

"So we hope you'd be so kind to help us, Uchiha-san," the mother smiled apologetically but there was also that steel in her eyes that implied she wasn't sorry he was here, merely delayed. "we wouldn't worry with someone as strong as you with our blind and helpless daughter."

"She's quite far from helpless though..." the father muttered to himself but they all heard him.

It had to be fate's meddling. Why else would the Senju's destination be the same as the Uchiha's?

Itachi was sure the world has it in for him as Amaterasu smirked.


End file.
